Ditched Foxton's Yesterday........Pheww A Relief

Firtly my sincere apologies, this might be a bit long winded. It is definitely worth a read! If you are thinking of letting your property through Foxtons, taking 20 mins to read this will hopefully save you time, money and lots of frustration!!

My dealings were with Foxtons in Pinner. This is the first time I've let a property and to say I was a bit naiive is an understatement. We were in the middle of renovating our property when another local agent came around and told us we could rent it for £1200-£1300 per month. When we were nearing the end of the renovations a Foxtons flyer came through the door and we called them up. Their lettings manager came round and told us he would have no problem getting us £1600 per month and that the property would be snapped up - we were estatic to say the least as this amount easily covered the mortgage.

We agreed for Foxtons to market our house. They sent their photographer around and all was hunky dory! After not hearing from them for 2 weeks, I left six messages for the lettings manager - I never got a call. I kept trying and eventually got to speak to hm and told him I wasn't too happy. But this didn't last long as he told me that he had even better news for me...he could infact let the house for around £1750 per month as he had just let one around the corner. I was happy as a pig in s***.

I was keeping an eye on the website for a week but the price had not been changed from £1600 to £1750 and it also showed that they were managing the property (which we had not asked for - we were going to manage it ourselves). I called them and brought up these points to be then told that £1750 was being too optimistic, the market place was not as strong and to leave it at £1600!!! They would continue to show it as "MANAGED" on the website as this would attract more corporate people???!!!!

The house was on the market for +/- a month but I'd heard nothing from them - I didn't know if anyone had viewed it (they had a set of keys), what the feedback was etc etc. I was getting a bit anxious so I got two other agents to market the property (these agents kept rabbitting on about a HMO Licence - what was that? - that was the first I'd heard of it!!) In the afternoon, I called Foxtons and advised them that I'd put the house on with two other agents.

Believe it or not, that very night I had an offer and yet another one the next day! I was relieved however I was in liasion with Harrow Council and a contact on a government website to clarify if I needed a HMO Licence or not (not surprisingly Foxtons said I didn't need it, Harrow Council said I did!) For the couple of days I was trying to get a definitve answer I was constantly harassed by Foxtons being told that if I didn't make up my mind soon then these people would go elsewhere. Thankfully, I was not phased my their harassment. In the end up it was decided by the Government website and Harrow Council that I did need a HMO.

When I asked Foxtons why they did not know this I was told that they were going by the information on the Government website (despite the fact that they refer you to your local authority for a definitive answer) and that they did not know that for the LB of Harrow the regulations were different - but they are letting numerous properties in Harrow surely they should have checked with the council!!! I turned down both offers. Moving on...within a few days I got another offer. Thankfully this was from a family for no HMO licence was required. Pheew! The offer was for £1450 per month and the impression I got from Foxtons was that I should be very thankful for getting this much as the market for lettings was not as strong (just over a month ago he told me he could easily get me £1750!!!). I was told it was an Asian family, mother, father and two grown-up children. The father was the only earner in the house. I was concerned at how someone could afford £1450/mth on one wage and was told not to worry that he had a highly paid job as a travel agent in the City.

I would not commit until I met the family and a meeting was aranged for the following evening. The meeting went very well, the family were infact from the Middle East not Asian as Foxtons had said (possibly something to do with the age and wisdom of the employees). They were very nice and we were happy for them to move in and they even agreed to move in a few days earlier to coincide with our mortgage payments. I was on a high. However, I told Foxtons I would not agree to anything until I was in receipt of and had checked their references. By the way I was told that Foxtons do not credit check tenants as it's not worth the paper it's written on!!! Tenants were due to move in on Monday and I got the references on Friday - a glowing landlord reference, an employers reference simply saying that the tenant worked at the firm and was a trusted employee, copies of their passports and a bank statement. I was just about to sign on the dotted line when I decided to go through the bank statement. This is what was revealed: 1.

The tenant is in receipt of housing benefit and work and child tax credits. 2. When pushed Foxtons told me that his salary was £18000 - hardly a highly paid job!!! When I brought this up with Foxtons I was told that the tenant could not provide any proof that he earned £18k and his employer would not write a reference saying they paid him £18k. I told them that this did not sound right. Foxtons then suggested that perhaps the tenant got paid cash! I suggested there was something dodgy about that, to be told by Foxtons that there is nothing dodgy about getting paid cash as his father gets paid cash. I suggested that perhaps his dad is evading paying tax and left the subject at that. Going through the bank statement - there was no payment into the bank account that would suggest the tenant was being paid anything like £18k.

Apart from housing benefit and tax credits there were payments totalling £848 in November, nothing in December and £602 in January. Infact in January total income into the account was £1381 - it didn't even cover the rent we were looking to charge! Foxtons were trying to force me into taking on this tenant by telling me that he had a glowing landlord reference and he had made all his previous rental payments - yes his bank account showed he paid his rent every month of £850, however his rent was now going to increase to £1450...he had to find an extra £600 each month! When I pointed this out I was told "but the tenant consistently has +/- £2000 as a balance in his bank, this is alot of money".

He couldn't understand that I was saying when I pointed out that chances are the tenant would be overdrawn in 4 months time having eaten £600 out of his balance every month. Even this did not stop Foxtons trying to pressure me into renting to this tenant. I was then told that there was no way that I would get a tenant earning £40k-£50k per year bearing in mind that my property is only a terraced house and being in the area it's in.....but little over a month ago when he first came in the door he told me the house would go like a hot cake for £1750 per month. My personal opinion of Foxtons is that they were only ever interested in getting my money and after that they do not give a shit! My advice to anyone thinking of letting in Harrow (I can't speak for any other borough) is to go and speak to some of the other reputable agents that have been in the area for many years, who have knowledge of the marketplace i.e. they know that £1750 is over priced for my property and they can tell me the ins and outs of HMO Licencing in Harrow.

They all charge around 8% as opposed to Foxtons 11%. They include a contact as opposed to Foxtons who charge £320+VAT for the honour of using their contract. They credit check, Foxtons don't. They actually check references and do their calculations, based on the tenants salary to ensure that the tenant can afford to pay the rent, it's obvious Foxtons don't do this. They can advise you about taking out rental insurance etc. so you have peace of mind, Foxtons have never spoken to me about this. Yesterday, I turned down the offer and told Foxtons that I no longer wanted them to market our property. I should have felt gutted that the tenant was not moving in on Monday however I actually felt that a weight was lifted off my shoulders as I no longer had to deal with Foxtons. Be warned!